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2007 Top Truck Challenge - Muck, Sweat & Gears


Day 1 Event 2

The Frame Twister

What it is and how it works: This course is the equivalent of high-impact aerobics for your rig. It's approximately 200 feet of mind-boggling misery that kicks off with strategically placed boulders, graduates to water and dirt, and concludes with its signature feature: logs placed perpendicular to the direction of travel over a deep water- and mud-filled abyss. Competitors are given 10 minutes to complete the course. Penalties in the form of seconds are assessed for infractions such as winching, hitting a marker cone, and so on. This year all the rigs that crossed the finish line were on the end of a cable.


 2007 Top Truck Challenge Jeep Tj Mud Pit
Thorson's TJ
 2007 Top Truck Challenge Ford Bronco
George's Bronco
 2007 Top Truck Challenge Chevy K1500
McGilton's K1500

Finish Line Quotes

"Reminds me of my driveway in the springtime."
-Al Rhodes

"I thought I had it nailed. I don't think anyone has been through there without winching in what, 3 or 4 years? I thought this could've been the year."
-Ron George

"I'm still sweating from that one. That was awesome, just plain awesome."
-Wesley Wells

"That was my first time on rocks and I gave it my best shot. That's all I can do."
-Justin Langford

"Them danged 'ol rocks are bigger than we thought."
-Rick Johnson


 2007 Top Truck Challenge Kaiser M135a
Well's M135A
 2007 Top Truck Challenge Ford Bronco
Langford's Bronco
 2007 Top Truck Challenge Chevy K3500
Johnson's K3500

The Play-By-Play

Fink's TJ: Couldn't find the magic line through the boulders. Tried powering through and bent both framerails after violently colliding with the rocks. Ended up out-of-bounds. Damaged an oil cooler line.

George's Bronco: Fast run through the course. Hit the logs at full speed in an attempt to jump over as many as possible, but took a bad bounce and went out of bounds.

Hadden's S-10: Damaged the body while blasting through the boulders. Got stuck in the logs. New winch rope wasn't tight on the drum, so the winch took a fair amount of time to pull the rope tight.

Johnson's K3500: While attempting to set up for a pivot maneuver in the boulders, it rolled onto the passenger side. The team chose to end their run.

Langford's Bronco: Got stuck in the boulders and almost rolled. After eight minutes, the rig was stuck sideways in the rocks with damaged shocks and a bent steering ram. Chose to end their run.

McGilton's K1500: Crawled the boulders with the left front Bogger high in the air. Tried to power through the logs but got stuck partially sideways.

Miller's Sonoma: Codriver stacked rocks to help the locker-less rig clear the boulders. Got stuck in the logs and eventually timed out.

Rhodes' D-100: Slow and methodical until reaching the logs, and then a huge burst of power resulting in big air. Team spooled out the winch cable beforehand and it got tangled up during the run, costing valuable time.

Thorson's TJ: Fastest run of the day. Slammed into the logs so hard that the driver bent the steering wheel and the rear end lifted skyward. Good teamwork resulted in a fast winch over the finish line.

Wells' M135A: Made it through the boulders without much drama. Tried to crawl the logs but got stuck. Quick winch work earned a Third place finish.


 2007 Top Truck Challenge Chevy S10
Hadden's S-10
 2007 Top Truck Challenge GMC Sonoma
Miller's Sonoma
 2007 Top Truck Challenge License Plate

RESULTS (time or finishing order if DNF)
1 Thorson's TJ2 min. 54sec.
2 Hadden's S-102 min. 59 sec.
3 Wells' M135A5 min. 40 sec.
4 Rhodes' D-1006 min. 37 sec.
5 McGilton's K15007 min. 22 sec.
6 George's BroncoDNF
7 Miller's SonomaDNF
8 Fink's TJDNF
9 Langford's BroncoDNF
J Johnson's K3500DNF


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